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I was browsing some coverage of the 2019 National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) show and discovered these Makita impact-ready hollow sockets I had never seen before. After some digging I learned that these sockets have actually been available since 2015, but I thought they were still interesting enough to cover.

At some point, we’ve all had to deal with spinning a nut down a long length of threaded rod and tightening it. If you work on mechanical systems in buildings, it’s probably something you encounter on a regular basis, as much of the infrastructure in commercial spaces hangs from the ceilings on threaded rod.

Makita hollow sockets have a smooth hole bored along the entire shaft, so that threaded rod can safely pass through without damage. The 12-point socket head can handle both 6 and 12 point nuts (yes there are 12-point nuts).

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The corrosion resistant sockets have 1/4″ hex shanks press fit into them and are impact-ready so that you can use them either with a drill or impact driver.

Makita offers these hollow sockets in two different nut sizes, 9/16″ and 3/4″, corresponding to the most common sizes of threaded rod used: 3/8″ and 1/2″. The sockets come in 5 different lengths: 3″, 6″, 12″, 18″, and 24″. Following is a table of all the hollow sockets sizes, part numbers, and their weights.

B-43290: 9/16″ x 3″ — 0.1 lbs.

B-43309: 9/16″ x 6″ — 0.2 lbs.

B-43315: 9/16″ x 12″ — 0.3 lbs.

B-43321: 9/16″ x 18″ — 0.4 lbs.

B-43337: 9/16″ x 24″ — 0.55 lbs.

B-43343: 3/4″ x 3″ — 0.2 lbs.

B-43359: 3/4″ x 6″ — 0.3 lbs.

B-43365: 3/4″ x 12″ — 0.45 lbs.

B-43371: 3/4″ x 18″ — 0.65 lbs.

B-43387: 3/4″ x 24″ — 0.85 lbs.

I couldn’t find one retailer that had the best pricing for all of the sockets, so here are a few retailers that carry them. Each socket will cost somewhere between $25 and $60 depending on its size and length.

Of course there are other methods of threading nuts onto threaded rod, such as hollow nut drivers and pass-through ratchets, but I like this hollow socket solution because it’s potentially faster.

The downsides are the length and weight of the sockets. A 24″ long socket could be awkward to wield in many situations, thus Makita offers varying lengths. Also, when you get up to the 24″ long 3/4″ socket it weighs 0.85 lbs. That’s a lot of weight over a long lever arm to be twisting around, I imagine you’ll build some wrist muscles using it.

About Benjamen

Benjamen Johnson grew up watching his dad work as a contractor and woodworker. He became an electrical engineer and took an interest in woodworking. Check out Ben's projects at Ben's Workshop or follow him on twitter or instagram.

Yea, they do 14mm and 17mm also, but I am not going to buy them, Anex 8mm and 10mm are forged one pieces, but 12mm, 14mm and 17mm are plugged shank, Most of Anex screwdriver bits are forged (some Apex screwdriver bits are also) but German brands are machined, I like machined ones more, they are more straight specially if they are long, I had bad experiences with forged bits a lot.

Hi Benjamen,
Would you please mention the E6.3 in the title of anything related to these shanks so I know that I should definitely read it, currently my first priority is tool accessories with these shanks. Many thanks.

I have a set of 1/2″ dr. impact sockets that are either Cornwell, Snap-On, or Mac I think. Commonly used in this part of the world for agriculture ( think LARGE machinery) and are priceless when needed. I use the 15/16 the most, followed by 3/4. They’re around a foot long or so, and are many decades old, and are used normally against spring pressure (large spring tightener, tightened down by a long threaded rod) and then double-nutted so they’ll stay where you’ve set them.

In the plumbing (more pipeline than house plumbing) world – extra deep sockets are often needed for making up couplings. Ones from Romac Industries come to mind – but we had a set from Reed that I think we used. As I recall these were only about 6 inches long.

Wouldn’t it make more sense for these Makita sockets if they were fluted to cut down on weight? Must add too much to the complexity and cost – but I can’t imagine having to carry one of the long ones around.

I seem to remember someone making a tool that used a spinning rubber wheel for running nuts on threaded rod; IIRC there was a bracket to slide along the rod’s threads while the rotating wheel spun the nut.

Klein also has a very similar product in 9/16 and 7/16 for 3/8” and 1/4” threaded rod. The most common sizes of threaded rod used by commercial electricians. They also offer it in 1/2”. When I bought them, the prices were much more reasonable than the Makita brand on Amazon. They definitely come in handy when building racks for conduit runs.

Rack-a-Tiers makes(?) or sells an Extendo ‘kit’ for 7/16″ and 9/16″ nuts using your own supplied lengths of 1/2″ EMT conduit. Smaller sizes but adjustable. EMT is cheap and can be tossed behind if storage/transport is an issue.